Life-saving appliance.



s. EDMONDS. LIFE SAVING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20,1912.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

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S. P. EDMONDS. LIFE SAVING APPLIANCE.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 20, 1912.

Patented Sept. 15, 1914.

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UNITED s'r TEs PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL'P. EDMONDS, OF GATONSVILLE, MARYLAND.

' LIFE-SAVING- .APPLIANCE.

1 Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern: 1 n 1 Be it known that I, SAMUEL P. EDMoNDs,a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Catonsville, in the county ofBaltimore and. State of Maryland, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Life-Saving Appliances, of which the following is aspecification. 1 1 My invention relates to life-saving apparatus whichmay serve as mattresses for use not only in bunks and beds onshipboardbut also in houses, and hotels along water-ways where floodsand-overflows may take place suddenly and endanger the lives of thoseliving in the vicinity.

- The main object of my invention is to provide a mattress which, whenused in the ordinary manner upon a bed, retains its resiliency but whichis. at all timesavailable for immediate use as afloat and willsustain 1a number of persons for agperiod of days.

In my present invention I provide an envelop surrounding the mattresswhich is I water-proof and may be substantially airtight so that it mayconstitute a pneumaticcasing and thus add tothe-buoyancy of the.

mattress, which is itself formed ofbuoyant material." I preferablyinclose the waterproof envelop with an o'utercasing or tickingcto form asuitable cover and to act as a protecting sheath for the inner casing.

The several objects of my invention will appear from the followingdescription in connection with the accompanying draw-' ings, in which I1 1 a j 1 Figure 1 is a, perspective view of'a-mattress embodying myinvention and showing its use as a life-saving float; Fig. 2,islaperspective1 view of ,the same with portions of the'inner and outercovers ripped open and laid open to expose the mattress and metal frame;Fig. 3, is a bottom plan view of my life-preserving mattress with onecorner of the outer cover turned back and other por-1 tions of the outerand inner covers cut away" to expose themattress; :Fig. 4c, isald'etail" showing one end of'the mattress and frame.

in section, taken on the line 4-4: of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, is a detailshowing in section a water-proof fabric which I may employ for the innerpneumatic cover; Fig. 6, is a detail of one corner of the outer covershowing the manner of inclosing or, pocketing the 1 metal frame; andFig.7, is adetailshowin the manner of forming-the water-proo joints. 1 1

It is absolutely essential that the float should be rigid and not sag inthe center or bend under the great' torsional stresses to which it maybe lsubjected by the violence of the waves. It is therefore necessary toPatented Sept. 15, 1914. Application filed November 20, 1912 Serial No.732,473.

provide .a rigid marginal stifleningframe. However, when used "as amattress upon 1 bunklor bed, it is desirable to retain all of theavailable resiliency of the mattress. For both reasons I place the frameat thebottom of the mattress and secure the bottom of the outer coverthereto in a manner to maintaln 1t taut and to prevent any sagging. 1

The mattress 1 may be constructed of felt.

or other resilient material and beprovided with the usual ticking. Suchmattresses possess sutlicient buoyancy tobe used as floats-"but I preferto employ a resilient filler such as water-proof silk floss, which is"in itself a substantially water-resisting ma- I terial, to preventbeing water-soaked in case the cover becomes ruptured or torn.

For the purpose of making the mattress thereof,- I incase the.mattre'ssqin a watera pneumaticenv elop. 1This latter features addsvery materially to the buoyancy or weight-sustaining capacity of themattressfloat. I prefer to construct the water-proof water-proof andalso to add to the buoyancy envelop of a cloth or fabric illustrated ini Fig. 5, in which the two layers of strong, light cloth PAFinclose andare cemented together byca layer or film of water-proof paint Thismulti-ply fabric is very serviceable and is especially adapted for thepurposes of this invention because the waterproof layer or filmisthoroughly protected from abrasion or wear by the outer cloth layers.

All of the seams of the waterproof envelop are made water-proof. I haveillustrated in Fig. 7 one method of constructing I thelwater-p'roof seamor joint. After, the meeting edges of the envelop are sewed together, asat 7, the projecting ends of. the cloth are turned back or returned asshown on the right-hand side of Fig. 7, and then fastened down, by meansof water-proof glue as shown ontheleft hand side. The entire seam isthen covered by a strip of cloth 8 which is securely fas-J teneddownacross the entire seam and pro-I j ijecting ends by means of water-proofglue. This glued joint is preferably made upon the inside of the water-proof casing upon three sides thereof to better protect-it mustnecessarily be placed upon the outside of the fourth side or end afterthe mattress has been inserted.

An outer cover or casinglO, which may bemade of ticking, is-placedoverthe inner, q water-proof envelop or casing.

gmal stiffening frame is constructed of holserted, the free edge .of thestrip may be sewed down' to the bottom of the cover .to

' thereby ilncase the frame securely i113 pocket. This forms a verysecure union'be tween the frame and the outer cover at the lower outeredge or margin of the cover so that the same may be mamtalned-t'aut andwill be prevented from sagging when sustainingthe weight of the mattressand the person or personsthereon. This is-impor tant .asjit'is verydesirable to prevent themattress from becoming dished to'let water intoor upon the float.

I For the purpose of providing suitable fasteningdevices to securepersons or articles to the mattress-float or raft, lashings 15' aresecured to the corners, preferably by passing'thr'ough the outercovering 1 and b'eingtied to the tubular frame 12. These mayconveniently be crossed diagonally overthetop ofthe mattress. Suitablehandholders" or loops 16, are provided upon 2 either'side, andcross-straps 18,eXtend across the top and over the sides'to furnishaddi-' tional securing or holdingdevices. In

storm or on rough water, one is subjectedto: forward, backward andsidewise motions and in fact combinations of these which render itexceedingly important to provide for properly securing oneself tothe'raft. It will be observed that thediagonal lashings 15, secured tothe corners of the mat- I I I LA" life savingappliance, comprising abuoyant, resilient body portion, a. water-; f'ji- :p'roof enveloptherefor, constiuting-"a pn'eu-' fmati'c bagor casing, an outerprotective coverfor said envelop, and a metal stiffen-1 fing framesecured within thew-outer. cover", along" the bottom edgethereof,and;-holding :7: ithe same taut across the entireIbottonr ofjthe body portion-:1 v t- ;-2. A life-saving appliance, comprising abuoyant, resilient body portion, a water- ?proof' envelop therefor, anouter protective cover therefor, a metal stiffening. frame se-g cured tothe outer cover" along the bottom {edge thereof, and holding the sametaut 1 across theuentire bottom of the body por- 7 tion, lashingssecured to. the corners-ofisaidi frame, and cross-straps secured tointer-.

tress-frameprovide means for bracing against forward and backwardmotions, while the cross-straps 18, take care of the sidewiseortransverse movements and the" two sets of securing-devices therefore (:0operate'm a proper manner to-resist stresses in all directions. Thus aperson may sitin the triangular space between the interse'c; tion of thelashings and the adjacent cross-strap I8, and-by wrapping the lash mgsabout the legs and grasping the crossstrap, be enabled to maintaintasecure positioniupon the mattressfloat or raft. The

.pull upon'either of the diagonal lashings is I transmitted to thecorner of the metal frame land isfthusdividedbetween and resisted by thetwo frame bars at right-angles to each other, thatis the thrust uponthe'fram'e' is- The marto more efficiently structure. 7 i a Y 7 While Ihave described the structure illustrated in the drawings, in detail, Iamawarei 110 divided into two 1. component forces along thetwoframebars. This arrangement sub ects the frame to less racking thanwould be thexcasegif the lashings extended longiltudinally from end toend ofthe frame and fastened to intermediate points inthegbars, sincesuch an arrangement would subject.

the bars to sidewise or transverse stresses tendingto bend them. For thepurpose of steadying Ythe'raft I may attach a weight by means ,of ropessecured to the corn'ers'of the frame so that the weight will be suspended centrally fand act as an equilibrat'or. When the inattre'ssis inuse'uponabed, the ropes will extend along the edges and hwill not be intheway' or interfere ner with its normal use.

The many advantageousfeatures of tress, provides a pneumaticflfloatingbody :which iscapable of sustaining heavy loads and possesses theadvantage ofremaining high or mostlyabove the water.' The-outercover-prevents: abrasion and wear of thel inner water-proof c0ver. The",mattress self is buoyant and furnishes a reservex of floating materialwhich will keep the mat tress and'itslo'ad afloat evenwhen the coveringsbecome punctured or ruptured, al though notas high above'thewater. The I intersecting, lashings and: crossstrap's, af-" ford amplesecuring devices and transmit the stresses to the frame inthe-most'advans tageous manner. 'Itis' oftenfideslrable to unite orsupermoin any I manmy; invention will' now be appreciated, es-ffpeclally"by naval engineers. The water :tight inner envelop; surrounding them'at' posetwo mattresses toform a-duplex float, I-ni this case itis"preferabletoarr-angeithe r frames at the' top and'at the'bottom soasbrace and. stiffen the that changes may be made therein without mediateopposite points of the frame and intersecting said lashings, wherebystrains on the lash are transmitted to the frame at the intersections ofthe side and end members thereof, said lashings forming longitudinalbracing members while said cross straps constitute transverse bracingmembers.

3. A life-saving appliance, comprising a buoyant, resilient, bodyportion having an inclosing-cover or casing, an outer protective enveloptherefor, having a pocket extending around the lower edge thereof,having its edges secured to the sides and bottom respectively of theenvelop, and a stiffening frame secured within said pocket and holdingsaid envelop taut across the bottom. thereof.

4:. A life-saving appliance, comprising a buoyant, resilient bodyportion, a waterproof fabric surrounding the same and having the seamsor joints sealed to provide a pneumatic casing, an outer protectivecover, and a marginal stiffening frame within said cover and securedalong the bottom edges thereof.

5. A life-saving mattress, comprising a buoyant resilient filling ofmaterial not readily absorbent of water, and having a suitable cover, anouter protective envelop therefor, and a rigid marginal reinforcingframe extending around the bottom edge of said mattress and securedwithin said outer protective envelop.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signa ture in presence of two witnesses.

SAlVIUEL P. EDMONDS.

Witnesses:

J. ROBERT GOULD, F. J. SEIFERT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

